UCF Baseball: Slugger Chris Duffy helps power Knights

When Chris Duffy was 15 months old, he watched his father's company softball game.

Soon afterward, his mother saw him running through the house swinging his bottle as though it was a baseball bat. Sara Duffy urged her husband to buy the toddler a toy bat and ball. He hit the first pitch so hard, James Duffy had to duck to avoid getting hit.

"At that moment, I think we realized baseball was going to be a special part of his life for a long time," Sara Duffy said of her son.

After many ups and downs during his baseball career, Cypress Creek graduate Chris Duffy has settled into the role of senior leader and star hitter for UCF baseball team.

The Knights need Duffy, who is putting up All-American numbers, to come up big in the clutch during a pivotal Conference USA series against national power Rice. The Knights (23-12, 5-4 in Conference USA) play the Owls (21-14, 6-3 in C-USA) at 6:30 p.m. tonight, 4 p.m. Saturday and noon Sunday at Jay Bergman Field in a battle for first place in the league standings.

Rice won the national championship in 2003, made seven College World Series appearances since 1997 and earned its conference regular season title every from 1997 until 2008. The Owls lead the all-time series against the Knights 14-3.

"It is clearly the largest series of the year," UCF coach Terry Rooney said. "To do great things and get to postseason, you need to have great moments. … I would say [it is] one of the biggest weekends this program has seen in a long time."

Consistent hitting has helped UCF surpass the 22 total wins the Knights recorded all of last season and tie for second place in the Conference USA standings.

Duffy has led the charge, batting .447 with 13 doubles, a triple, 14 home runs and 51 RBI. His slugging percentage is.879 and his on-base percentage is .522. He is tied for fourth nationally in RBI, tied for fifth in total bases, tied for sixth in slugging percentage and tied for seventh in home runs. Yahoo! Sports ranked Duffy the top outfielder in the country in its latest power rankings.

"It's been a roller coaster ride," Duffy said of his college career. "I've just tried to stay calm out there and make the most of my chances."

Duffy was drafted in the ninth round of the Major League Baseball draft following his senior year of high school, but his parents urged him to get a college education and take a little more time to mature before entering the tough world of professional sports.

He erratic at the plate under former coach Jay Bergman and the Knights struggled overall with a depleted roster during Rooney's first season in 2008.

The big turning point came during the summer when he was not drafted.

"He was devastated," James Duffy said of his son. "He has always dreamed about playing Major League Baseball and he couldn't believe he wasn't drafted. He knew this year was his last chance to prove he deserved to play professional baseball."

Duffy hit the weight room harder than ever during the offseason and listened closely to UCF hitting coach Cliff Godwin, who simplified his swing. Godwin also urged Duffy to be more patient and make better choices about the pitches he tried to hit.

"We're proud of him because he has matured so much," Sara Duffy said. "He is having a great year, but we believe this is just the beginning of what he can accomplish."